British Airways 747, January 1999 JFK-LHR. Heavy turbulence all the way and what felt like huge drop when the stewardess was thrown up in the ceiling. I thought that the wings would brake when we suddenly became stabile.

SQ B744 in early January 1998 (SIN-LHR). Flight was ok, but had heavy turbulence from the channel onwards and were stuck in the pattern for almost 2 hours because so many A/C waiting to land in the severe weather.

Wings were flapping up and down so much I shut the shade - too disconcerting! The two younger kids next to me were also being sick - constantly. Pancaked onto the runway, but was just glad to be down in one peace - pretty much the only time the weather worried me!

Jan 2001
Lan Chile 340 MAD - SCL3 hours tied to the seat because of heavy turbulence. I remember a lady became too stressed and she went anyway to the lavatory... in that very moment we started to go up and down with pretty strong turbulence

The red-eye on ASANC-LAX. Our flight was delayed due to mechanical reasons. We board, push back, then sit on the tarmac for a while. The captain announces that we have to go back to the gate for the mechanics to check something out. We sit at the gate (still on the plane) for about 15 minutes, then the pilot says over the PA that one of the pressurization systems was broken, but there are still two that are working so we can still fly. We would just have to fly at a lower altitude, no big deal. BUT...

This was during one of the worst storms the west coast had seen in a long while. The entire west coast from Canada to Mexico was completely covered in a nasty storm. Since we couldn't fly at a normal altitude, we had to fly right through the storm and it was nasty. We rolled side to side, pitched forward and backward, and dropped through the entire flight. The flight attendants had to stay seated except for the final cabin check before landing. The worst part was that I had a nasty bruise on the side of me head from bumping it against the window so many times during the flight.

Also red eye SFO-IAD last June on UAL A320. Turbulence started about an hour into flight and continued the whole way, luckily was able to sleep but everytime woke up, the plane was bumping and rocking.

29th of June 1999 Flight QF005 Sydney - Singapore! I experienced about 3 hours of turbulence crossing the Australian desert. Later on during our approach into Singapore the pilot made it clear that our approach wasn't going to be friendly! 12th of August 1999 Flight LH4__ Frankfurt - Singapore we experienced a lot of turbulence through out the flight BUT the worst was during the last 1 hour of the flight when we flew over Thailand I was walking back to my seat when we suddenly went up & down sending me flying across someone's seat & slicing my finger open on the edge of the seat when I tried to hang onto something!

Flying back from LAX to LHR in 1998 on a UA 772. The FAs had just started the meal service when we hit some pretty bad turbulence. The crew soon asked for everything to be stowed and told the FAs to take their seats. It went on for hours - we never did get our meal

My wife and I were sat on the left side, with our two daughters sat in front of us. My wife isn't a great flyer, and she was crapping herself! Every time one of the girls looked back at us, my wife would try and put on a brave, reassuring smile, but combined with her fear, she just ended up pulling a face that made her look like she'd been constipated for a week. We still laugh about that.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana!There are 10 types of people in the World - those that understand binary and those that don't.

Last year on a Air Berlin flight from TFS (Tenerife South) to DRS (Dresden) we faced heavy turbulences right after take-off for about 4 hours or more. Was a night flight which made all a bit more scary, first time that I really was angry to be on a plane.

Usually I am a real trooper when it comes to turbulence. But one time I experienced it so severely that I was honestly terrified.

I was on an Air New Zealand 747-400 from Auckland to LAX in July 1991. We had departed at about 9pm into the complete darkness, and immediately after take-off we started bouncing around. About 20 minutes into the flight, the turbulence became so bad that I was grabbing onto the sides of my seat for dear life. The wings began to move so violently that I thought they were going to break off. The sound of the movement of the plane was awful...banging and creaking. It was huge ups and downs and it was just brutal. It all lasted for almost an hour. Being over the ocean in the middle of the dark night and going through those sensations was the most disconcerting feeling I had ever experienced.

But it's even scarier if the pilots don't say a word. Would it kill them to just announce: "We're experiencing turbulence. We know it can be unsettling but I assure you there is no danger to the aircraft."

I was on a KLM 743 MSP->AMS with some scary bumps. People were pretty pale until the Captain came on the PA and said basically that. You could physically feel the relief of the pax.

Psychology is a great thing.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - John Ringo

Qantas SYD-SIN, this February. Turbulence started directly after the departure and lasted almost as long as we flew over the Australian continent. It was long (if I remember correctly, then 3+ hours) and really heavy. All cabin services were delayed. Some people had very bad times. In several occasions there were even screams, as we took some very heavy falls. My most inconvenient flight so far...

Tks for all info. I have been in bad turbulence myself many times. Over Sweden, Thailand, The Atlantic. And i do not like it at all. WHERE IS THE AIRSICKNESS BAG???????????????? Another dive and then uuuuuuup...

Not hours but 25 min! Was enough for me. Piiuuhhh......
L. Tahoe-SFO/ AirCal 737. Pax. screamed right out, including me!! F/a´s were
strapped to their seats the whole way, calm 2 min. before landing.
Just a bloody awful trip

CPH-BKK (TG) about 2 hours of really horrible turbulence over Himalaya mountains. We were in the last two rows so that made it feel even worse I guess!?

My worst "turbulence" experience (not hours but more like 5 seconds) was on UA B747 flight from NRT to HNL in 1997 when the aircraft plunged a 1000ft! People who were not wearing a seatbelt were flown all around the aircraft! That was really horrible! I think a women even got killed! Luckily we were wearing our seatbelt and after that I ALWAYS have my seatbelt fasten.

I like driving backwards in the fog cause it doesn't remind me of anything - Chris Cornell

DABZF, the back of long planes is worse since you get the whiplash effect. I have been up on the flight deck of a 744 in light turbulence. Up there, practically nothing. Back where I was sitting, noticeably more.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - John Ringo

April 1979 from Washington National to St. Louis on a TWA 727-100. Substitute for a 727-200. Thunderstorms all the way at 18,000 feet. Crawled along at about 225 knots to minimize heavy turbulence - at night with lots of lightning. Flight attendant broke an arm on a fall. Air conditioning inoperative. My 11 year old son threw up all the way - as did many others. To this day, he is scared of flying at age 36. Left my camera on the Lincoln Memorial earlier that day. Got to St. Louis and had to hold in the storms, only to divert to Kansas City and continue the horrendous ride. Landed safely at Kansas City, as we walked off the aircraft, heard the flight engineer say to the captain - "Well, Captain, good thing we made it in on the first approach - not sure if we had enough gas for another."

Bussed backed to St. Louis on two city busses. Had to sit and sleep on the floor, not enough seats.

NZ1 LAX-AKL on Dec 25th 2003. After the dinner service and two hours of flying we went three hours (11pm-2am) with the seatbelt sign on and bouncing. It was quite disconcerting being over the vast pacific ocean with no where to go to get away from it. Luckily I was in F class, so it wasn't too bad.

If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!